What’s changed in the thirty-five years since Beth Henley wrote Crimes of the Heart that makes it feel outdated? It’s hard to pinpoint any obvious factors, since the story is a very personal, observational one about three sisters, with its politics subtle and non-dogmatic. Yet one cannot help but leave the theatre feeling that – […]
Archives for February 2016
Antigone Project at Rep Stage (review)
Whether ancient Greece or modern megalopolises, women get a raw deal. The classic Greek playwright Sophocles wrote about this human predicament enduringly in his Oedipus plays, which charted a family curse cruelly played out from generation to generation. One of them, Antigone, shows a young woman defying capricious laws and politics to do what is […]
Free tickets. Get them this weekend
Free tickets, anyone? Hop aboard the Comp Train, Goldstar’s popular two-day promotion that features complimentary tickets to tons of fun events throughout the country (so feel free to pass this on).
Old Hats Review: Bill Irwin and David Shiner’s Clown Medicine for Nasty Times
There are two main differences between the candidate debates on TV and the one in Old Hats, in which Bill Irwin and David Shiner don too-white teeth and try to one-up each other: 1. These clowns do it wordlessly, with mallets. 2. Unlike their real-life political counterparts, that isn’t their whole act. View all production […]
Hughie Review: Forest Whitaker’s Broadway Debut in Eugene O’Neill Relic
The most intriguing element in the new production of O’Neill’s Hughie, which marks Forest Whitaker’s Broadway debut, is Christopher Oram’s set. This is not just because the hotel lobby is meticulously detailed; it also serves as an apt metaphor for the play – a dusty relic now, but never truly grand even at its peak. […]
Intersections Festival 2016 gets two big gifts this weekend
As the 2016 Atlas Intersections Festival celebrates its seventh anniversary, two events will add to the excitement. H Street’s newest restaurant will donate all of its weekend revenues to the Atlas Performing arts Center. And the long-awaited DC Streetcar begins service Saturday, February 27th, following a brief ceremony at 10am at 13 & H Streets SE. Service, and the […]
The Mariinsky’s colossal Raymonda shines at the Kennedy Center
If you go see the Coliseum in Rome you don’t need to talk about the dust, or the cracks in the walls. It is, of course, a very old building but you don’t think, “Gosh, they should add some new concrete and even out these walls.” Similarly when you see The Mariinsky Ballet’s evening length […]
Sondheim’s Road Show at Signature Theatre (review)
There are some historical characters that cry out for animation on the stage. Stephen Sondheim has fixated on a pair of them in his meandering travelogue Road Show, a historical biographical musical set in the first half of the 20th century.
Jack Marshall on Samuel French “cease and desist” controversy
A ridiculous and offensive example of misuse of legal process and interference with free speech was just flagged by self-exiled Ethics Alarms star, Barry “Ampersand” Deutsch on his blog.
Kabarett & Cabaret. In Series turns up the heat (review)
Welcome to the celebration of immigrants who have enriched America. The posters hanging on an upstage backdrop at Source are photos of famous composers who lived in Germany and Austria during the Weimar Republic: Franz Waxman, Kurt Weill, Frederick Hollander, Erich Korngold, and Hanns Eisler. A picture of Arnold Schoenberg, the godfather of modern classical music, known […]
Sweat wins Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Lynn Nottage
Two plays recently seen on Washington area stages were honored in London yesterday. On February 22nd at London’s National Theatre, Lynn Nottage received the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Sweat, which enjoyed a celebrated run at Arena Stage, closing last weekend. .
James and the Giant Peach at Adventure Theatre MTC (review)
From the creative mind of Roald Dahl who created such masterpieces as “Matilda,” “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and lots more, comes this adaptation of “James and the Giant Peach.” This Adventure Theatre MTC musical production mixes full blown imagination with Broadway-style savvy flair assuring a terrific time for all.